Despite the many worst-case scenarios, we will be able to provide adequate food and water to the estimated 9 to 13 billion citizens of the world fifty years from now. But such a goal can only be reached through a transformation of our systems of production and distribution. We will have to choose to use the resources of the earth in a more equitable and sustainable way.

A good starting point in achieving this goal is to stabilize world population growth at a workable level. Reproductive health education efforts in rural communities can have dramatic results, especially in convincing girls and women of the wisdom of reducing family size. This will slow the process of land fragmentation that is having such a destructive impact especially in Asia. Since the poor often count on large families as a form of insurance, it stands to reason that as food and water security increase, one of the incentives for more children disappears.

This vicious cycle of poverty can be broken in a variety of ways, but one of the most effective is to provide the food and water required for productive work. The World Food Summit Plan of Action, adopted in 1996 by nearly every nation of the world, states that “poverty eradication is essential to improve access to food.” Many studies show that increased caloric intake increases per capita income dramatically.

In almost every country of the world there are grassroots NGOs devoted to reducing the gap between rich and poor. Many of these organizations are targeting rural farmers and making self-sufficiency in food their number one priority. The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) concentrates on poor rural women and promotes home-based income generating activities, like food processing and poultry-rearing.
Heifer International, a non-profit organization empowers local communities by offering healthy animals to the rural poor and initiating an ethic of mutual assistance.

Cooperatives and other local organizations offer an important antidote to the impoverishing effects of globalization. Anti-WTO activists claim that free trade and open markets must be balanced with programs that protect and support indigenous agriculture and resist the trend towards privatization of commonly held resources like water, for example.

Competition for scarce resources like food and water can either be a source of future conflict or of peaceful cooperation. Recently there have been concerted efforts internationally to establish processes of cooperation which have led to the Nile Basin Initiative, the Indus Waters Treaty, and a Global Alliance for Water Security, to name just a few programs. The World Food Program is often the most important agency in areas of conflict, providing food to refugees and the internally displaced. They are eager to turn relief into redevelopment and, through their Food for Work program, attempt to address some of the root causes of conflict.

International organizations are also working hard to promote cooperation between developing countries in food production. For example, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has a Special Program for Food Security that targets the 86 lowest income food deficit countries, and pairs them with another poor country that has made significant agricultural advances under similar conditions. NGOs like OXFAM foster small-scale local assistance programs, which bring together rival tribal groups for seed sharing or development of appropriate technology.

Governments, which are responsive to the needs of all their citizens, will certainly make food and water security their top priority. The number of democratic governments in the world continues to grow; this trend is encouraging. But even a democracy as large as India, in its efforts to foster economic growth, can fail to listen to the grassroots. Anti-hunger activists make a strong case for politicians to balance global and local economics needs.

Consciousness of the fragility of the natural world is growing and citizens and governments are beginning to adopt measures to protect our natural environment. Sustainable agricultural practices are an essential first step in this process, since mechanized production farming can take a toll on soil and water resources. In the industrialized world, consumers are paying greater attention to what they eat and insisting on healthier diets. In response, many farmers are converting from heavy chemical dependent practices to more sustainable method of production and are remaining competitive in the process. Alternative approaches to growing food and models of appropriate technology are being disseminated in the developing world with some success.

As the enormity of the water crisis sinks in, alternatives to wasteful irrigation are being explored. For example, Israel has pioneered a water-saving method of drip irrigation that is being used in other arid climates. OXFAM has also supported the wider use of a locally developed plow in the Horn of Africa, which cultivates the land in a way that uses rainwater more efficiently. At the high tech end of the scale, desalination and complex water transport systems are being explored. In industrialized countries domestic water conservation is emphasized in schools and efforts are being made to curb waste.

All of these solutions have merit, but efforts to reverse the climate change brought about by carbon emissions are among the most important. Rising water levels caused by the melting of ice caps and general overheating of the climate are already having a devastating effect on agriculture. Reduction of carbon emissions is critical if we want to reverse the negative impacts of global warming.

The health of the entire population of the world rests on the availability of clean water and nutritious food. The epidemic of HIV-AIDS in Africa is a good example: in many countries, the farmers who produce the food and could pass on the agricultural skills have died. Uganda has taken extraordinary steps to slow the infection rate and restore health to the rural areas. The World Food Program, in its many food assistance programs to refugees and victims of natural disasters, links food and health care in an effort to break the cycle.

The World Health Organization along with NGOs charged with reforming health care in the world has focused on clean water as the best way to prevent debilitating disease in developing countries. Village wells and a guaranteed supply of water to the millions who live in the barrios of the world will go a long way in reducing disease and promoting health.

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